Currently, there is not yet a full-fledged philosophical sub-discipline devoted to artifacts. In order to establish such a general philosophical discourse on artifacts, two topics are of special importance: artifact functionality and artifact categorization. Both are central to the question of what artifacts are in general and in particular. This introduction first presents the current state of the art in the debates on functions, both in general and in the domain of artifacts in particular. It then unfolds the three debates (...) relevant for artifact kinds, namely the ontological, epistemological and semantic debates on artifact categorization, and presents the most important theory options currently under scrutiny in these fields. It proceeds by introducing the contributions in this special issue on the functions and kinds of art works and other artifacts, and discusses possible perspectives for a general philosophy of artifacts. (shrink)

In philosophy – especially in philosophy of technology and philosophy of art –, several specific accounts of artifact functionality have been developed. These accounts usually have a restricted scope: they are clearly limited to either technical artifacts or entities of art. In this paper, a contrasting account will be developed, which aims at covering both functions of technical artifacts and functions of art works as well as their instances. The paper is in two parts: In the first part, the method (...) of specifying desiderata that Houkes and Vermaas have introduced to develop their theory of technical functions is adopted. Drawing on exemplary function ascriptions referring to items of art and technology, four desiderata are presented, all of which an account has to meet to provide a convincing analysis of both function ascriptions to technical artifacts and function ascriptions to art works and their instances. In the second part, an account that meets these desiderata is developed. (shrink)

Als zentrale Untersuchungsgegenstände sind Werke in den Geisteswissenschaften omnipräsent. Befragen wir geisteswissenschaftliche Disziplinen danach, was Werke eigentlich auszeichnet, sind wir allerdings mit einer Vielfalt disparater Auffassungen konfrontiert. Der Beitrag plädiert für einen begründet restriktiven Umgang mit dieser Vielfalt geisteswissenschaftlicher Werkkonzepte, um der je individuellen Leistungsfähigkeit der Konzepte angemessen Rechnung zu tragen. Funktionen des Werkbegriffs kommt dabei eine Schlüsselrolle zu: Innerhalb geisteswissenschaftlicher Praktiken erfüllt der Werkbegriff je unterschiedliche Funktionen, deren Explikation in doppelter Hinsicht von Nutzen ist. Zum einen können diese Funktionen (...) als Gründe dafür dienen, bestimmte Praktiken der Verwendung des Werkbegriffs gegenüber anderen zu privilegieren. Zum anderen befördert es den (inter)disziplinären Austausch, wenn wir uns der Funktionen gewahr werden, die dem Werkbegriff innerhalb unserer Praktiken zukommen. (shrink)

Copies of artefacts are ubiquitous in our lifeworld and have gained influence on several domains such as economy, culture and science. This development has induced wide-ranging public debates about how to evaluate copying processes regarding their legitimacy, which up to the present day have not reached consensus. This situation calls for an ethics of copying. However, such an ethics has not been elaborated in detail up to the present day. This paper aims at creating foundations of an artefact-related ethics of (...) copying by giving a sketch of an answer to the question of what it means to illegitimately copy an artefact. In order to achieve this, I firstly define “artefact copy” to limit the subject area of such an ethics. Secondly, I answer the question of where to draw the line between legitimate and illegitimate processes of copying. (shrink)

This volume provides the reader with exclusive insights into Ernest Sosa’s latest ideas as well as main aspects of his philosophical work of the last 50 years. Ernest Sosa, one of the most distinguished contemporary philosophers, is best known for his ground-breaking work in epistemology, and has also contributed greatly to metaphysics, metaphilosophy and philosophy of language.

A particular problem of traditional Rational Choice Theory is that it cannot explain equilibrium selection in simple coordination games. In this paper we analyze and discuss the solution concept for common coordination problems as incorporated in the theory of Team Reasoning (TR). Special consideration is given to TR’s concept of opportunistic choice and to the resulting restrictions in using private information. We report results from a laboratory experiment in which teams were given a chance to coordinate on a particular pattern (...) of behavior in a sequence of HiLo games. A modification of the stage game offered opportunities to improve on the team goal through changing this accustomed pattern of behavior. Our observations throw considerable doubt on the idea of opportunistic team reasoning as a guide to coordination. Contrary to what TR would predict, individuals tend to stick to accustomed behavioral patterns. Moreover, we find that individual decisions are at least partly determined by private information not accessible to all members of a team. Alternative theories of choice, in particular cognitive hierarchy theory may be more suitable to explain the observed pattern of behavior. (shrink)

In their classic study of differences in mating strategies, Clark and Hatfield (1989, Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality, 2, 39–54) found that men and women demonstrated a striking difference in interest in casual sex. The current study examined the role of an imagined requestor’s physical attractiveness (slightly unattractive, moderately attractive, and exceptionally attractive) on men’s and women’s willingness to accept three different requests (go out, come to apartment, go to bed) as reflected in answers to a questionnaire. We tested (...) two hypotheses with a sample of 427 men and 443 women from three countries. Hypothesis 1 states that men, relative to women, will demonstrate a greater willingness to accept the “come to apartment” and “go to bed” requests but not the “go out” request for all three levels of requestor attractiveness. This hypothesis reflects Clark and Hatfield’s main findings. Hypothesis 2 states that the physical attractiveness of a potential partner will have a greater effect on women’s than on men’s willingness to accept all three requests, and particularly for the explicit request for casual sex. The results partially supported Hypothesis 1 and fully supported Hypothesis 2. The discussion highlights limitations of the current research and presents directions for future research. (shrink)

¿Podría un dios hacer aparecer como verdaderas cosas que son falsas? Esta pregunta que Cicerón formula en las Cuestiones académicas y en el contexto de su objeción al concepto estoico de sabiduría, adquiere una fuerza impensada en el seno de la civilización cristiana, civilización gobernada por la idea de un Dios omnipotente. Así, es objeto de discusión en la Edad Media y llega a Filosofía Moderna a través de René Descartes. En este trabajo, comenzamos por presentar la objeción de Cicerón (...) y, en un segundo momento, mostramos la renovación que la misma experimenta en ciertas disputas medievales. Llegamos finalmente a Descartes, en quien analizamos la hipótesis de un Dios engañador así como algunas de las objeciones que se le hacen y las respuestas que el autor ofrece ante ellas. Nuestra conclusión es que esta hipótesis súper escéptica, consecuencia de la idea de un Dios omnipotente, se encuentra en la médula del cartesianismo, algo que Pierre Bayle hará notar con claridad medio siglo más tarde. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Zeitschrift für kritische Sozialtheorie und Philosophie Jahrgang: 3 Heft: 1 Seiten: 3-25.

Este artículo busca reconstruir en lo que consideramos sus tres momentos principales el ideal renacentista y moderno de una República literaria. Conforme a esos momentos, el trabajo se divide en tres secciones. La primera estará dedicada a la República literaria tal como la concibieron los humanistas del Renacimiento y la temprana Modernidad. La segunda, buscará comprender el peso que tuvieron los periódicos literarios en la transformación de aquella República. En la tercera, finalmente, trataremos de reconstruir la República literaria en la (...) España de mediados del siglo XVIII, la España del Padre Feijoo, quien asume buena parte del pasado erudito europeo buscando recrearlo en la medida de lo posible conforme a las circunstancias locales. (shrink)

The common thread that links the thinking of Ernst Bloch (1885–1977) to “Critical theory” is Bloch's Marx‐oriented criticism of society. Epistemological and ethical criticism move on the same plane of discourse. A conditioned dialectic is to mediate the break between theory and practice made by Kant's critique of metaphysics. However, Bloch disputes the claim of Hegel's dialectic to have completed that mediation, a mediation as a consequence of which not only do history and actual events as suffered and experienced comprehend (...) themselves, but so does the suffering itself. However, whatever meaning is imputed to the latter, there is no such thing as suffering that comprehends itself, for it is inherent in real suffering that in addition it suffers from its incomprehensibility and urgently wishes for its sublation. (shrink)

En las dos últimas Cartas a Serena (1704), John Toland estudia las concepciones del movimiento presentes en Baruch Spinoza e Isaac Newton. Frente al primero, Toland advierte que no dio un paso que su sistema le exigía, a saber, declarar el movimiento esencial a la materia. Frente al segundo, su advertencia es diferente: Newton sí habría dado ese paso, aunque no habría expuesto públicamente todas las consecuencias que se derivan de este. En ambos casos, lo que nos interesa es la (...) relación entre filosofía natural y filosofía política que Toland detecta y que no siempre ha sido analizada. (shrink)

El Commentaire philosophique sur ces paroles de Jésus-Christ ‘Contrain-les d’entrer’ publicado en 1686 por el calvinista francés Pierre Bayle constituye uno de los capítulos más interesantes y menos conocidos en la elaboración moderna del concepto de tolerancia civil. En este artículo se reconstruye el itinerario desarrollado por Bayle en esa obra y se pasa revista a las señales de inconsistencia teórica que se han detectado en la misma. En principio, estamos de acuerdo con Walter Rex y Gianluca Mori en que (...) los criterios racionalistas presentados en la Parte I del escrito resultan difíciles de conciliar con los argumentos escépticos que dominan en la Parte II. A nuestro juicio, sin embargo, estos y otros intérpretes comparten un supuesto no evidente: que en el Commentaire Bayle intentó elaborar una teoría de la tolerancia. Si se prestan atención a algunos pasajes de la obra, en cambio, la empresa bayleana aparece más bien como una recopilación de argumentos contrarios a la intolerancia religiosa que no requiere necesariamente de una articulación interna. Desde esta perspectiva, nos parece, las inconsistencias no resultan insalvables.The Commentaire philosophique sur ces paroles de Jesus-Christ ‘Contrain-les d’entrer’, that the French Calvinist Pierre Bayle wrote in 1686 is a particularly important book in the built-up of the concept of civil toleration on Modern Philosophy. In this article we reconstruct the principal arguments of the work and review some problems of incoherence detected. We agree with Walter Rex and Gianluca Mori on their rationalist criteria presented where they express that is difficult to conciliate in Part I with the skeptical reasoning that dominates in Part II, but it must be noted that these exegetes, and many others, have in common a non-obvious assumption: that Pierre Bayle wrote the Commentaire philosophique to present a unified theory on toleration. If we examine some passages of the book it could be seen, whereas, that the baylean design shows itself as a compilation of arguments against religious intolerance, a compilation that is not internally required to be articulated. From this point of view, we think that the problems of coherence could be saved. (shrink)

This paper intends a comparative analysis of freedom of thought and toleration,as these concepts appear by the end of the 17th century in Locke's Epistola de Tolerantia and Bayle's Commentaire Philosophique. Nowadays we think that an open society implies freedom of thought as one of its pillars, and so an unlimited toleration, except in case others were injured. For Locke, things were different: freedom of thought was, for him, obedience to natural law, the basis of human society, and this purported (...) that those who did not recognize the law were excluded. Bayle, on the other hand, showed that the only truth subsistent in issues concerning religious matters was a relative, "putative truth", something that catholics, mahometans and atheists pretended to possess. There was no reason, therefore, to exclude those groups from human society. In his book, Bayle is sometimes against himself. On the contrary, Locke's theory is clear and well founded. But, and this is our conclusion, not always attentive to practical life contingencies.Este trabajo se propone un análisis comparativo de la libertad de pensamiento y tolerancia, tal como estos conceptos aparecen hacia fines del siglo XVII en la Epistola de Tolerantia de Locke y en el Commentaire Philosophique de Bayle. Actualmente pensamos que una sociedad abierta implica libertad de pensamiento como uno de sus pilares, y así una tolerancia ilimitada, excepto en caso que otros resultaran dañados. Para Locke, las cosas eran diferentes: libertad de pensamiento era para él obediencia a la ley natural , base de la sociedad humana, y ello implicaba que aquellos quienes no reconocieran la ley serían excluidos. Bayle, por el contrario, mostró que la única verdad subsistente en las cuestiones concernientes a temas religiosos era una verdad relativa, una "verdad putativa", algo que católicos, mahometanos y ateos pretendían poseer. No había, en consecuencia, razón para excluir a tales grupos de la sociedad humana. En este libro, Bayle estaba a veces contra sí mismo. Por el contrario, la teoría de Locke es clara y bien fundamentada. Pero -y ésta es nuestra conclusión-, no siempre atenta a las contingencias de la vida práctica. (shrink)

This article introduces the discovery of a “Sonet in the commendation of Sir Thomas More Knyght” found in a copy of the 1557 English Workes printed by Richard Tottel and edited by William Rastell. It argues the sonnet was written by a Tudor Catholic early in Elizabeth's reign and should also be read in light of its 1557 print context: its physical place in Workes alongside Rastell's Preface, and in conjunction with Tottel's Miscellany printed the same year. Read through such (...) a lens, this newly discovered sonnet helps illuminate the idiosyncratic complexity of Catholic experience in Elizabethan England concerning memory, martyrdom, censorship and repression. (shrink)